Photo Prompt Story: Oscar Learns A Lesson

~ beetleypete

This is a short story, in 748 words.
It was prompted by the above photo of an image, sent to me by Jennie Fitzkee.
https://jenniefitzkee.com/

Oscar wasn’t a bad boy. Not one of those ‘deep down’ bad boys who nobody likes. But he was a boy, and everything that came with that. Boisterous, getting dirty, ripping his clothes, scuffing his shoes. Most of the time he did as he was told, but like most youngsters, he sometimes had his bad days.

Paula soon discovered that it was best not to tell him not to do something. “Don’t walk along the edge of that wall, you will fall” would guarantee that he would continue to walk along the edge of the wall. When Richard warned him not to climb the old Oak tree in the garden, it took them over an hour to get him back down from the branches.

He should never be dared, either. When his cousin Martin dared him to eat a worm, he ate twenty, just to show off. Paula had to get Richard to clear that up after he had been sick. She hated worms. Martin also dared him to climb out of his bedroom window, and hang on to the chimney stack, pretending to be Santa. That rescue had involved having to call the Fire Brigade.

After that, they never again left Oscar alone with Martin.

Visiting Richard’s Aunt Mary was always something of a chore. She was a nice old lady, but she lived such a long way, and the traffic was always bad. When Oscar had been small, Paula would ask Richard to make the trip on his own. But now Mary was getting very old, and had asked to see the boy. So they packed up the car, and told Oscar to behave himself when they got there. The small Tablet Paula had bought proved to be worth its weight in gold, as Oscar sat watching cartoons on it the whole way.

Mary was delighted to see them. She had prepared a lovely afternoon tea, and Oscar devoured the scones with cream and jam. As they chatted about nothing much, there was a squawking sound from another room. Oscar put down the last part of his third scone. “What’s that noise, Aunt Mary?” She leaned forward, whispering. “That’s Captain Beak. He’s my parrot, and he was once owned by the famous pirate, Blackbeard”. Paula smiled at her tall tale, but she could see that Oscar had believed the old lady as Mary continued. “It is said that the spirit of Blackbeard went to live inside the parrot after he died, and Captain Beak has lived for hundred of years, before I got him”.

Oscar’s eyes were wide. “Can I see him please, Aunt Mary?” They all went into the old-fashioned parlour, where the green parrot sat on a perch in a corner, next to an ornate Victorian cage. It squawked again as they entered. Oscar watched as it moved sideways on the big perch, its head bobbing up and down. “Does it talk?” Mary smiled. “Only to me, Oscar. He has just told me that you mustn’t touch him, just look. Pirates don’t care too much for little boys, and Captain Beak is well-named, for his powerful sharp beak”.

Back in the dining-room, with his parents chatting to Aunt Mary about grown-up stuff, Oscar was bored. “Can I use your toilet please, Aunt Mary?” She turned and nodded. “There is one by the front door, or the bathroom upstairs. Whichever you like”. Of course, Oscar had no intention of using the toilet. He went straight back into the parlour, and walked closer to the parrot. It didn’t squawk this time, but bobbed silently, watching as Oscar got close. The boy stood up on tiptoes to reach the perch, smiling as his hand stretched out to stroke the bird’s head.

Almost dropping her tea cup at the sound of the scream, Paula was on her feet in seconds. But there was no sign of Oscar in the toilet by the door. Then she heard a sound from the parlour. “Pieces of Eight, Pieces of Eight. Pieces of eight”. She opened the door to find her son clutching his right hand, his face white, and blood dripping from his fingers onto the carpet.

Richard got the car round, and they rushed him and his index finger to the nearest hospital. It was sewn back on, but it never worked properly.
The doctor said something about nerve damage.

Still, he is learning to write quite well with his left hand now.

67 thoughts on “Photo Prompt Story: Oscar Learns A Lesson”

  2. Outstanding story, Pete!! You reeled me in. The drawing the Jennie provided; done by her daughter really set the tone for this story. She is an artist in her own way by shaping lives that allow creativeness to flourish.

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  3. Reblogged this on A Teacher's Reflections and commented:
    Thank you for using my photo in your post, Pete. The photo prompt story is excellent. Here is the real backstory behind the photo:

    Our daughter is the artist in the family. She did this drawing using soft pastels, years ago. The bird was actually hers when she was a child. What adventures that bird had! I have written a picture book about the bird, although the child in the story is a boy, not her. She was excited to do a few illustrations. This is one.

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  7. Awesome story, reminds me of my brother. He tried counting our dog’s teeth once. I think he got stitches in left hand. And ‘pieces of eight’ has me intrigued. Probably we did meet the pirate’s famed parrot after all… Who planned to bite down the boy in pieces of 8 x 8 x 8, started with finger.

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    1. It really was Blackbeard’s ghost, Shaily. Aunt Mary’s tall tale was true! 🙂
      ‘Pieces of Eight’ is from the book, Treasure Island, by R.L.Stevenson.

      ‘One of the most famous phrases in pirate lore, the term “pieces of eight” is the phrase uttered by Long John Silver’s parrot, the first real proof that Silver is really a pirate.’

      A piece of eight was a real coin, and was used by the Spanish.

      ‘Money in Spain was based on a system of reales (pronounced re-al-es’). Spain was commonly using an 8-real coin of very high quality in 1497. In 1537 the Spanish escudo gold coin was introduced, which was worth 16 reales. The later Gold Doubloon was worth 32 reales or 2 escudos. It is this divisibility into 8 which caused the silver coins to be named “pieces of eight”.’

      Best wishes, Pete.

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  9. (1) Captain Beak needs a mate. Aunt Mary should parrot with another bird.
    (2) “Captain Beak has lived for hundred of years…” Really? I want to see his bird certificate!
    (3) Captain Beak’s performance earned him an Oscar⁠—or at least a small part of one.
    (4) People walk the walk, and talk the talk. Parrots do more: they squawk the squawk.
    (5) Oscar had the nerve to stroke the bird’s head, and now is hand suffers from nerve damage.
    (6) “Pieces of Eight, Pieces of Eight, Pieces of eight.” That’s at least six Pieces of Eight, or 48 times the Real thing.
    (7) Blackbeard often sang to the crew of the Queen Anne’s Revenge:
    ………”To each of you in my pirate crew
    ……….Look what your captain has got for you
    ……….I paid with silver, and now we’re broke
    ……….Yo ho ho and a bottle of Coke!”

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  10. Good one, Pete. I’m at that age where every story reminds me of something that happened in my teaching career. One of my colleagues has a story about a student in her room who she told to stop putting erasers in his ears. (I don’t think I ever had a student who did that, but that’s beside the point.) Anyway, just like Oscar, this kid did not listen. An eraser came off the end of his pencil and got lodged in the student’s ear. The teacher and the school nurse were unable to get it out. The boy ended up having to go to the ER to have it removed. I wonder if he listened to his teacher after that.

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    1. Thanks, Pete. When I was an EMT, I took small kids to hospital with all sorts of things in their ears. Tiny Lego bricks, a round pellet of dry dog food, and once, a small rock of crack cocaine. The worried mother’s main concern was if they would give her back the crack. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  16. We raised 5 sons. Like Oscar, you could tell them not to do something and sure enough…The only time they would not do something when we told them not to was when they were told not to do their chores.
    Great story, Pete.

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  19. My brother was like that, according to my mum, which is why he was the one to end up with a cut foot through paddling in the river he was told not to, and a broken leg! Some boys are just plain stubborn and obstinate 😂

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